Storm Warning II

I know the feeling you guys. I have decided to fish Pro in the walleye tourneys here on Erie. Just more money to try to make up expenses. Last year we took 5th in the Am division of a tourney but would have taken 6th in the Pros and would have won an additional $200! As far as a king tourney goes, what's wrong with that? That's why we go to Lake O. I like catching fish, but I LOVE catching kings. The last trip we purposely did away with high divers and boards to run all deep in the hopes of targeting strictly kings, it worked, it wasn't like coho city 2 weeks ago. Its all about fish and weight, target the BIG boys. I think you could have done well with a mixed bag in the Orleans Pro Am though, Team Vision Quest that took 2nd in the Pros only carried a 5# average for day 2. There are plenty of coho and steelies that can carry that average. As far as the Am observer goes, if he has a license (which the rules state he has to) than I should be able to deploy two rods on his count. He is licensed and is taking up space in my boat, I am going to use it!

Haven't seen verification yet, but there is a rumor of a 8# 8oz smallie off Northeast, PA over the weekend as well.

Congrats Yankee Troller! A few of my buddies made up Team Vision Quest and I talked to him on the cell about 11am on Sunday and they were in the middle of a 1/8 stretch that really cost them some loot!

185 to 230 fow seemed best east of the Bar over the two days. Friday was a big search mode deal. Never really locked into a program, but did manage a 6 for 9 day, including a 38 1/2" 21# King on one of the more devastating wire diver hits I have ever witnessed. (I felt like calling the cops because I thought the rod got raped!) We searched from the red can east towards Wilson from 100 fow to 300 fow. Friday evening we met up at the Y-town motel with RICHARD, another LOU member and took their advice on heading east and fishing a spot east towards Wilson in 200 or so fow. Had a GREAT morning. Only lost one fish and had our daily tag filled by 9 am. Hot combo was a Chartreuse Opti Dodger in front of a Willis Tourney Glo regular Dreamweaver on a LONG leash, like 6 feet! I figured it was like a really, really long meat rig out there so we gave it a whirl and it paid off. It hadn't hit the 100 foot mark for 1 minute when it fired and Jimmy boated a decent teenager. Started our south pass when the other rigger fired with the SS Old Yeller on it and Jimmy nailed another nice teenager. Reset that rigger and the dodger/spoon fired again, but this time it was screaming! Long story short, 32 minutes later we boated a 22#er. One of the more epic battles with a salmon I have ever had. Still strange we only had the one wire diver hit over the two days. Big fish, but only one. Riggers still seem to be the trick.

Hey Diversion, Did very similar to Richard and you in the same water till the armada arrived. Yes, we fought the one salmon for a whopping 32 minutes! Best fight I've ever had and won!

Its all about the application! Braid is great, it can get you deep, is very low stretch and thin diameter like wire. I use it every trip. I prefer it for salmon because the braid is a TOUGH line and will take abrasion and the stress that salmon will cause a line. There isn't much doubt when a salmon hits a braid set. Mono is great too, if you use it for what it was intended for. Mono "floats" primarily because of its thicker diameter. Mono, as a result, won't get as deep. Mono has more stretch, as an added shock absorber (in lieu of a snubber). I use mono a lot when fish are in the top 50 of water. It is great for 'eyes and steelies on Erie and you can use it for salmon as long as you are targetting them high in the water column. I like to use a slightly higher drag set on mono because of the "shock absorber" quality. It will take the hit and set the hook with more tension on the drag. If you have a screamer on, make sure you loosen it up a notch once you have made contact with the salmon.

2.5 to 2.7 GPS? I couldn't get a hit other than coho 2 weeks ago at that speed. I had to get the old Storm up to 3.1 to 3.3 GPS to get a King to hit. I saw a report today: Red Can: 30 - 60 down.

Apparently you picked up a few fish on the sliders Ray?? I don't know whether to start by the red can or motor east towards 4 mile / Wilson? I have heard reports now of fish as shallow as 130 and as deep as 280, fish seem a lot more scattered than they were a couple weeks ago. Thanks for the help guys.

Thanks Billy V. Great K.I.S.S. article in GLA there last month.

Planning on heading to the Bar this weekend and haven't got any fresh juice. Anybody throw me a line?

They still fishing the Bar or have they ventured east? Heading up this weekend, looking for some fresh juice.

Report on the 'Pullers today with a 34# SPRINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that's an arm wrestling match.

Thanks SeaSquirrel. I heard you a couple times on the radio. It sounds like we missed out on the great day you had Friday. I thought about hailing you, but wasn't sure you'd know who I was since I am new on the LOU. The encounter wouldn't have been such a big deal probably if it wasn't my buddy's first King. That NE wind sure did seem to scatter those Kings. As we were pulling out of the water though we heard guys starting to peck away at them in closer, like 200 to the break?

Saturday: Got of to a LATE start due to some computer problems and licenses. Finally hit the water about 9 and got lines down at 9:30 in a stiff 2 to 4 chop. Dropped lines in 200 fow and worked 200 to 240 for the first 3 or 4 hours. 2 shaker Kings on various spoons on deep (55 and 65) wires 1 shaker king and 2 coho on braids set way out (#3 165 back and 185 back) had a couple guests with us so had a high mono w/ 6" orange crush spin doc and cheddar fly on a small dipsy that just wouldn't quit for a while on the coho and a smallish steelie. No screamers, so decided to head deeper, worked out to 300 and focused on 250 to 300 fow. Picked up a couple coho and then the deep rigger FINALLY fired. Jimmy noted it felt like a heavy fish but it really wasn't putting up much of a fight. After 3 or 4 minutes of making headway, he finally figured out he was hooked and decided to make a B-line for Toronto. Fish probably took 100 to 150 feet off and we again began to make headway. Got the fish about 50 feet from the boat and he realized what was going on and began a series of runs every time we got him close. After an agonizing 15 to 20 minute arm wrestling match we finally netted him a 19# 11oz fish, biggest of the trip. Dropped off our day trippers and headed back out for the afternoon on MUCH calmer seas. Worked 280 to 300 for a few hours and ended up with a couple more shaker kings, a 2 yr. old, couple coho, a few hit and misses and had some fun with a LARGE steelie on the braid. Sunday: Got out on the water early and had a VERY hot bite for the first few hours, COHO CITY but a few kings in the mix as well. E-chip Evil Alewife on a wire diver did a LOT of damage. First King of any substance of the day came about 7:30 when a blue dolphin E chip spoon fired on the braid. SCREAMER!!!! 200 some feet of line out later we managed to whoa him up. Unfortunately there was an oncoming boat that we were having a heck of a time getting away from, as I would veer west, he reset his course right at us! Somehow managed to avoid catastrophe even as Jimmy was doing jumping jacks and screaming at the top of his lungs trying to get the oncoming boat's attention. The other boat squeaked by us at a mere 8 to 10 feet! I could almost grab the end of his boom rigger. The boat was comprised of 2 F.R.O.G.s not paying any attention to anything but their spread. The fish Gods were with us and we boated the feisty 17#er. Reset and boated another 14#er shortly thereafter on the same rig that boated the big fish of Saturday, an Old yeller Mag SS on the rigger 75 down. Managed a couple more coho and a few hits and misses along with a brief battle with another fish off the rigger to no avail before calling her quits about 10:30. Good trip hope to be up again the weekend of the 26th. Here's a link to the fish we brought home, the 3 largest kings, the 2 y.r old griller, and a few coho for the smoker. http://www.glangler.com/boards/User_fil ... e5ce04.jpg

AWESOME! See you guys there in the morning.

I'm a really, really, really, really big fan of the NK 28 Watermelon/Holo. Worked wonders on Erie last year.

For those of you not familiar with him, SkeinMan is awesome. I think he knows every spoon on the planet and probably has a pic of it too! He is a wealth of info and if you tease him enough, you might get to see some of his signature designs as well.

Storm Warning II from Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. 24' Starcraft Holiday. Home port(s) are Conneaut, OH and Erie, PA. Look forward to fishing the Bar this spring and also Olcott as the year progresses.

Fished Presque Isle Bay in Erie, PA last night as well as some lake shore outside the Bay and it was an almost uniform 50 F. Several patches of 49. These are all surface temps in water from 6' to 30'.